Nvidia RTX 3000 Series Release Date, Specs, Benchmarks, Price

All hail…RTX 3080 Ti…Nvidia 4K gaming is upon us…and it ‘may be’ in our budget this time.

It’s about time to refresh the latest lineup of Nvidia RTX graphics card and this time, the internet is churning out rumours & leaks as fast as possible for Nvidia GTX 3000 series release date, specs, price & even leaked benchmarks.

Even though Nvidia has stated that they will look into the leaks and their validity, we can rest assured that we have the latest Nvidia RTX 3000 series among our midst.

The refreshed Nvidia RTX 3000 series and specs look like this:

Note: Unofficial prices (projected with 20% increase over RTX 2000 series)

GPU	Architecture Code	VRAM	Price
Nvidia RTX Titan or 3090	GA100	20 GB	$1999
Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti	GA102	12 – 16 GB	$1199
Nvidia RTX 3080	GA102	12 – 16 GB	$899
Nvidia RTX 3070	GA103	8 – 12 GB	$699
Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti	GA104	6 – 8GB	$599
Nvidia RTX 3060	GA104	6 – 8 GB	$399
Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti	GA106	6 GB	$299
Nvidia RTX 3050	GA106	6 GB	$249

Along with aforementioned 3000 series, their ‘super’ counterparts are also supposed to launch in due time.

The internet is abuzz with the clock speeds, VRAM size, power consumption, brand new board-design & actual performance with latest AAA titles & what mainstream 4K gaming would look like once these cards are released.

Up Till Now – Why Nvidia RTX 3000 Series got delayed?

Nvidia RTX 3000 series was supposed to launch in February, then due to the world in turmoil right now, it got delayed till May for GTC 2020.

GTC 2020 got eventually cancelled and Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang displayed the latest developments via YouTube livestream.

The main focus was on 7nm fabrication process & how Ampere can help Data Centers & Super-computers save on time, power consumption & money with their new line of graphics cards.

Sadly, we did not get any mention of Nvidia RTX 3000 series.

Current Status – Is Nvidia RTX 3000 Series under development?

A couple of months later, several leaked images & tweets had pointed that Nvidia RTX 3000 series is already under ‘testing’ phase & may proceed to being manufactured by August 2020.

An official Nvidia RTX 3000 series released date will be announced at Computex 2020 in September 2020.

Once the graphics card passes all the validation tests, especially refreshed board design & heat-sink. It will be shared with the third-party manufacturers, i.e. Asus, Zotac, EVGA, etc.

We also have Gamescom 2020 in August and that could be a possible window for the release as well.

Release Timeline – How trustworthy are sources for Nvidia RTX 3000 series release date?

It’s true that you need to take the news about the release date & specs with a grain of salt.

However, since it has been the same duration as the last generation of Nvidia graphics cards, RTX 2000 series, you can rely on the rumours and leaks to be true.

Have a look at the timeline of previously released graphics card from Nvidia:

Graphics Card	Release Date
Nvidia RTX 3000 Series	August 2020 – September 2020
GeForce 2000 Series	20 August, 2018 Gamescom
GeForce 1000 Series	27 May, 2016
GeForce 900 Series	March 2014

So, the emerging pattern suggests a 2-year cycle for these series and we are nearing to that time in August 2020-September 2020.

Let’s hope that Nvidia RTX 3000 series release date does fall between the said duration because everyone is desperately waiting for the next big thing.

Current AAA titles look absolutely gorgeous in 4K and several gamers now sport 4K monitors as well. They just need a more budget friendly graphics card to go along with it.

Nvidia RTX 3000 Series Price

Current pricing model of RTX 2000 series sheds some light on what RTX 3000 series might follow. It could be lower than that, when RTX 2000 series was first released.

The reason for being lower is the upcoming AMD graphics card series, Big Navi, & it is also a great solution for mainstream 4K gaming.

Even if it delivers true 4k gaming for 20% lesser price tag than Nvidia RTX 3000 series, then gamers will flock to it.

The performance of AMD graphics cards have also been top-notch and they are not going to slack off with Big Navi.

It may not be able to dethrone Nvidia completely, but it will still give a tough competition to their latest graphics cards line-up to reduce their early prices.

Let’s take a look at the current price tags of Nvidia 2000 series (as of 18 July 2020 – Amazon.com):

Graphics Card	Price (US)
Nvidia Titan RTX	$2499.99
GeForce RTX 2080 Ti	$1299.99
GeForce RTX 2080 Super	$709.99
GeForce RTX 2080	$1000
GeForce RTX 2070 Super	$584.99
GeForce RTX 2070	$489.99
GeForce RTX 2060 Super	$419.99
GeForce RTX 2060	$309.99

Nvidia RTX 3000 Series Specs and Performance

Currently RTX 2000 series operates on TSMC 12 nm (FinFET). It is rumoured that Nvidia RTX 3000 series will use 7nm process by Samsung.

However, another rumour is pointing toward 8nm process as well.

Whichever it is, Nvidia will be in a great shape because AMD has already confirmed that Big Navi operates on 7nm fabrication process.

Either 7nm or 8nm, will give a huge power-consumption benefit to the gamers. Given the scale of clock speeds, vram, bandwidth, etc., gamers would love to ‘not’ change their PSUs as well while upgrading to Nvidia RTX 3000 series.

On twitter, you’ll find several leaked specs of Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti & while, it is not confirmed how true they are, they certainly point towards a great enthusiast level performance.

NVIDIA GA103:
60 SM , 320-bit
10GB/20GB Graphics Memory
NVIDIA GA104:
48 SM , 256-bit
8GB/16GB Graphics Memory pic.twitter.com/IaQt6mtQ4b

— KatCorgi (@KkatCorgi) January 17, 2020

 

It is being said that RTX 3000 series will be nearly 40% – 50% faster than RTX 2000 series.

That’s a significant jump as well, considering the price tags will remain ‘nearly’ the same.

Here’s an image of a purchased Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti, be careful:

Now, let me list them out properly:

Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti Specs

Code Name	GA102-400-A1
Product Name	RTX 3080 Ti
Architecture Name	GA102
Fabrication Process	7nm
CUDA cores	5376
Boost core clock	2.2 GHz
VRAM	12 GB @18 Gbps GDDR6
Bandwidth	863 GBps
TDP	320 W

I am sure that you can see some holes in the specs, which is why it must not be trusted until the reveal of Nvidia RTX 3000 series.

RTX 3080 Ti is supposed to have 18 – 20 GB of VRAM & GDDR6X. The low-mid range cards are going to have 8GB to 12 GB of RAM, like RTX 2060 & RTX 2070 (with their ‘Ti’ and ‘Super’ counterparts).

RTX 3080 ti and 3090 will be given a bump in RT cores as well, between 80 to 256, to provide a smoother ray tracing experience in current & next-gen gaming titles with ray-tracing support.

Here’s another leaked image of Nvidia RTX 3000 Series specs:

There are so many numbers to throw us off from that table as well, so make sure to not consider pre-ordering.

Wait a while & see if you can get RTX 2000 series for a much lower price tag.

It will be a rush even in these times, because Nvidia has already asked respective retailers to sell out RTX 2000 series graphics card to make room for RTX 3000 series.

So, you might have a great opportunity to snag RTX 2000 series and as you already know, those cards are already quite a beast with 4k gaming.

Nvidia RTX 3000 Series Benchmarks

Currently, I don’t have hard benchmarks. However, if the reports are to be believed then we’ll see 30-40% FPS boost in comparison to RTX 2000 series graphics cards.

With that in mind, here’re some projected FPS to show you some estimates.

Test Rig:

CPU	Intel Core i7 9700K
GPU	Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB
RAM	32 GB – Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 MHz (16 x 2)
Hard Disk	512 GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus NVME
PSU	Corsair AX1200i
Motherboard	Asus ROG Strix Z390-F
OS	Windows 10 build 2004

Games Benchmarked on Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti

S.No.	Games (4K – Ultra Settings)	Min FPS	Avg FPS	Max FPS
1.	Assassin’s Creed Odyssey	61	73	85
2.	Battlefield V	75	90	105
3.	Far Cry 5: New Dawn	72	81	90
4.	Metro Exodus	65	67.5	70
5.	Rage 2	65	71.5	78
6.	Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice	72	78.5	85
7.	Apex Legends	85	92.5	100
8.	Control	78	84	90
9.	Death Stranding	67	78.5	90
10.	The Outer World	69	77	85
11.	The Divison 2	75	82.5	90
12.	The Surge 2	78	84	90
13.	Need for Speed Heat	98	104	110
14.	Darksiders Genesis	120	135	150
15.	Shenmue 3	75	82.5	90
16.	Planet Zoo	55	62.5	70

Conclusion

Nvidia RTX 3000 series packs one hell of a punch. It is most suitable for 4K gaming & if you do have a 4K monitor, currently sporting GTX 1000 series, then buying RTX 3000 series will make plenty of sense.

For battle royale games, at 4K resolution, you still need graphics cards that can deliver 100+ FPS to keep your gameplay smooth and lag-free.

For open-world games, 4K resolution will certainly amp up the beautiful world that the game developers have created for us & we are currently stuck with 1080p resolution to maintain that smooth 60 FPS.

So, with RTX 3000 series, at least open world games will be open for every mainstream gamer who wants to play them at 4k without burning a hole in his/her wallet.

Please share your thoughts whether you’ll be buying Nvidia RTX 3000 series graphics cards or not, as soon as they hit the market or will you wait for AMD Big Navi to buy either of them at competitive prices?

Also, what do you think about ray tracing? Will you be turning it ON at the cost of -20 FPS at 4K? What games will you be playing in 4K?

Thanks for reading. 😊

Nvidia RTX 3000 Series FAQ

How much will the RTX 3080 Ti cost?

Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti is expected to cost around $1199, nearly the same as RTX 2080 Ti.

How much will the RTX 3070 cost?

RTX 3070 is rumoured to cost around $699. It's $99 higher than last gen RTX 2070.

Will the RTX 2080 Ti price drop?

Nvidia RTX 2080 ti price will definitely because of two reasons. 1) Retailers have been told by Nvidia to clear out their shelves. 2) AMD is revealing Big Navi & reducing pricing of AMD 5700Xt, making it better choice for gamers in comparison to RTX 2080 Ti.

Is it worth buying a 2080 Ti in 2020?

It is definitely worth buying 2080 Ti even as RTX 3000 series is upon us. Reason being the price drop after they are released. RTX 2080 Ti is still capable enough to get you that sweet 4K gaming performance & with DLSS turned to 'performance mode' it delivers great frame rates with ray tracing turned ON.

Is Ray Tracing worth the money?

Depends on your visual ability to differentiate minor details as you play. In coming 2 years, we'll have all major gaming titles to have native ray tracing support and after that, all future games are going to have that by default.
If you don't stop for reflections and how the fire reflects on nearby objects & how a single flame of fire lights up the room naturally, then 'ray tracing' won't mean much to you.
But if you do stop and wonder about the visuals & details of the environment around you, then Yes, ray tracing is worth every penny!

Will graphic cards price drop

Yes. Graphics cards prices will drop but only when AMD is also ready with their Big Navi release. When this tug of war is happening, the last generation of graphics cards will definitely see a price drop.

When will rtx 3070 release?

Nvidia is rumoured to release Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti & RTX 3070 together. After that RTX 3060 & RTX 3050 will take nearly 6 months to be released, so 1st Quarter of 2021.

Who is Nvidia's upcoming RTX 3080 graphics card for?

Nvidia RTX 3080 graphics card is for enthusiast gamers who have 4K monitor & want to play open-world games on everything set to High-Ultra. Nvidia RTX 3080 is going to have more RT Cores than RTX 2080, hence, ray tracing enabled gaming titles will look great in 4K resolution.

What are the RTX 3080 Ti specs

Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti specs (leaked as of now):
Code Name: GA102-400-A1
Product Name: RTX 3080 Ti
Architecture Name: GA102
Fabrication Process: 7nm
CUDA cores: 5376
Boost core clock: 2.2 GHz
VRAM: 12 GB @18 Gbps GDDR6
Bandwidth: 863 GBps
TDP: 320 W